KHWAJA ABDUL HAMIED (1898-1972) – PIONEER … · Khwaja Abdul Hamied ... Hamied passed his matriculation from Islamia High School, ... voluntary assistant in the Institute of Physical

Indian Journal of History of Science, 45.4 (2010) 533-558

KHWAJA ABDUL HAMIED (1898-1972) – PIONEERSCIENTIST INDUSTRIALIST

HARKISHAN SINGH*

(Received 23 July 2010; revised 28 October 2010)

Khwaja Abdul Hamied (1898-1972) was a pioneer pharmaceuticalindustrialist in India. He was a patriot and true nationalist. He respondedto the call for civil disobedience by Mahatma Gandhi during his studiesat the Muir Central College of the Allahabad University where he was amaster level student in chemistry. After teaching for a few years at thenewly created Jamia Millia Islamia, he proceeded to Germany for higherstudies. He obtained doctorate from the University of Berlin and spent ayear more in Germany acquainting himself with the emerging industrialtechnologies. He toyed with the idea of establishing a Technical ResearchInstitute which did not materialise. He very much desired to be a universityteacher but that too did not come through. He had no other option butto engage in sales business. After a struggle of six years, he got to haveenough resources to establish himself as a technical industrial chemist,the vocation for which he was really trained. In 1935 Dr Hamied foundedthe Chemical, Industrial & Pharmaceutical Laboratories (CIPLA) which hascontinued to progress and is today a leading drug company of thecountry. He had a significant role in the establishment and working of theCouncil of Scientific and Industrial Research. He remained associated withseveral official and professional bodies. He left a lasting impact on scientificand technological development of the country.

Key words: Chemical, Industrial & Pharmaceutical Laboratories(CIPLA), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Indian ChemicalManufacturers’ Association, Indian Pharmaceutical Association, IndianPharmaceutical Congress Association, Zakir Husain.

INTRODUCTION

For this write up, a careful survey was made of the available literature; theinformation obtained has been appropriately cited. The Royal Institute of Chemistry* Professor Emeritus, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Panjab University, 1135 Sector 43, Chandigarh

160022

534 INDIAN JOURNAL OF HISTORY OF SCIENCE

file on Hamied made available by the Royal Society of Chemistry,1 souvenirspublished on the occasion of his 70th birthday celebration,2,3 his autobiography,4and certain other publications5-7 supplied by the CIPLA proved to be of particularinterest.

During the earlier part of life, his name stood as Abdul Hamied Khwaja(A. H. Khwaja), which he later changed to Khwaja Abdul Hamied (K. A. Hamied).

EARLY LIFE AND PARTICIPATION IN THE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT

Abdul Hamied was born on 31 October 1898 at Aligarh, U.P. He wasthe fourth child of Khwaja Abdul Ali, descendent of the reputed Sufi KhwajaSayed Abdulla Ahrar of Iran. His mother Masud Jehan Begum was a directdescendent of Shah Shuja-ul-Mulkh Durrani, Amir of Afghanistan.

Sir Sayed Ahmed Khan, his father’s uncle, was the founder of theMohamadan Anglo Oriental College, which later developed into the Aligarh MuslimUniversity. Hamied’s father was one of the first students who graduated fromM.A.O. College, later he qualified in Law and practised as an advocate at theAllahabad High Court, before his joining the U.P. Provincial Service.

Hamied passed his matriculation from Islamia High School, Etawah, withdistinction in mathematics. For the intermediate studies he was at the Agra College(1915-17); the subject of chemistry fascinated him. At the time leather industry

Khwaja Abdul Hamied1898-1972

535KHWAJA ABDUL HAMIED (1898-1972)

was extremely prosperous and this made Hamied to join the leather trade schoolat Madras where he spent a year to complete his studies. Now he decided to goin for graduation in science and enrolled himself at the Muir Central College ofthe Allahabad University and qualified for B.Sc. degree in 1920. His special likingfor chemistry brought him close to Professor N. R. Dhar, of whom he becamea pet student. He joined the M.Sc. chemistry class to continue his studies underProfessor Dhar.

It was about the time that after the Jallianwalla Bagh tragedy the MahatmaGandhi’s Civil Disobedience and Non-co-operation Movement spread like wildfire. The call stirred the nation. The countrymen responded to it with elan. YoungAbdul Hamied exhorted the students to leave Muir Central College; with himabout 200 students left the College with a pledge to fight for freedom of thecountry.

Hamied returned to Aligarh where his father after retirement fromGovernment service had settled down. At Aligarh the student agitation was at itspeak. Zakir Husain was then an M.A. student at the University and vice-presidentof the Aligarh Muslim Union, with whom about 1,000 students also left theUniversity. These students who had left the University clamoured for continuingtheir studies. The All India Khilafat Committee established a university under thename ‘Jamia Millia Islamia’ (National Muslim Univerity) at Aligarh.8 Among thefaculty appointed were Zakir Husain and Abdul Hamied as readers to teacheconomics and chemistry, respectively; that is where a lifelong personal relationshipbetween the two started in 1920.

Hamied’s father had an interest in medicines. When he retired as a judicialofficer in 1920, with the money he got from his Provident Fund, he started a shopAlison Chemists and Druggists, which both father and son managed.9,10 Hamiedcombined teaching at the Jamia Millia with running of the chemists shop.11 InHamied’s own words it is stated, ‘This was how I acquired a liking for drugs andmedicines and perhaps it is due to this that when I established myself in businessin Bombay, I started the chemical and pharmaceutical laboratories for themanufacture of drugs and medicines.’9

It was in connection with spreading the Non-co-operation Movement thatMahatma Gandhi, Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal and other leaders were on a visit toAligarh and staying at the residence of Hamied’s uncle A. M. Khwaja. Hamiedrecords that ‘It was during this stay of Mahtma Gandhi at my uncle’s residence


that I had the privilege of serving Gandhiji and remaining in his company for overa week. I thus came to know Gandhiji intimately’,12 Later in December 1921when Hamied went to Ahmedabad for the Congress session he stayed at SabarmatiAshram with Mahatma Gandhi.13

Gradually Hamied got to know well the stalwarts of the freedom movement.

STUDIES IN GERMANY

After the Non-Co-operation Movemnet had been suspended by MahatmaGandhi, Zakir Husain at the insistence of Abdul Hamied left for Germany forhigher studies in 1923. Hamied himself wanted to go abroad but his father hadno money to provide him the support. His mother had some property at Delhi andAligarh which she had inherited from her father. She sold her property to enableHamied to go overseas for studies. He sailed for Europe in September 1924 andreached Berlin where Zakir Husain was studying for his doctrate in economics.

Hamied had to make necessary efforts to learn German language. Hisprofessional interest was in chemical technology. He got admitted to the researchlaboratory of Professor A. Rosenheim of the Fredrich Wilhelm University atBerlin; in the writings on Zakir Husain and Hamied the name of the institutionappears as Berlin University. He worked on a technical problem, ‘The Technologyof Barium Compounds’ (1924-26), which he contributed for doctoral thesis,qualifying the oral examination with the remarks cum Laude, meaning ‘with praise.’Another student who appeared with him was N. N. Godbole who later becameprofessor of industrial chemistry at the Banaras Hindu University.

While on a short vacation during the 1925 Easter holidays, Hamied meta young girl Luba of Polish origin whose intelligence and beauty touched him, littlerealising then that she would later become his life partner.

While working at the Berlin University, Hamied attended classes of variousprofessors. He was particularly impressed by the teachings of chemistry NobelLaureates Professor Fritz Haber and Professor Walther Hermann Nernst. Duringthe vacations of 1925/26, he worked in the laboratory of Dr W. Kohen andengaged in chemical and technical analysis of food stuffs, drugs and medicines.

After getting his doctorate Hamied stayed on in Germany for anotheryear. For two months he worked at a factory at Rathenau, near Berlin, and learntthe modern techniques of soap and perfume manufacture. He was employed as


voluntary assistant in the Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistrywhere he worked with Professor M. Volmer. The other experiences Dr Hamiedgained while in Germany were in factories producing hydrogenated edible oils,making glass-lined and enamel vessels, and preparation of analytical chemicals.He also joined for some months school of pharmacy in Dahlem. By now Hamiedfelt well equipped with practical knowledge of different industrial technologies.

Dr Hamied left for India in October 1927. He had decided to marry Lubabut could not do it till he got settled in life.

In September 1927, Hamied made an application for election toAssociateship of the Institute of Chemistry, London; the election materialised inApril 1928.1

STRUGGLE AND TURNING THE CORNER

For his homeward journey, Hamied sailed from Marseilles for Colombo,from where he was to travel by train for Bombay. During the travel by ship ofnearly twenty days he had ample time to think about his future career. He felt thatIndia needed an organisation for chemical and industrial research andexperimentation to give practical training to the young graduates, in various processesof chemical industry so that they could learn to establish small industrial units. Heconceived of establishing a Technical Research Institute. He completed writing hisplan for the institute by the time the steamer reached Colombo.

Back home Hamied had an offer for a post at the Banaras Hindu Universitywhich he declined. He was very enthusiastic about his own scheme of a technicalresearch institute. He went from place to place, meeting people who could givefunds for starting the institute. Everywhere he met with disappointment. He wasadvised to approach the fabulously rich Raja of Nanpara who lived in Lucknow.He met the Raja who listened to him patiently but showed no inclination for theeducational institution of Hamied’s conception. Instead, the Raja asked Hamiedif he could accompany him as his private secretary on a trip to Europe he wasto undertake in April 1928. The terms offered were attractive. Hamied acceptedto work as Raja’s private secretary.

Hamied with the Raja and his party left for Europe. He considered thisreturn to the continent so soon nothing but providential. They visited differentplaces. He started disliking the job with the Raja and left the position while in


Europe. He then went to Berlin where Luba was still studying at a polytechnic.He informed parents and then married Luba at a mosque in Berlin. They livedthere for some months. Hamied did not have much money. He made up his mindto go back to India to take a suitable job as a teacher in a university or failingwhich to establish a business. He left Luba in London with one of his cousins tostudy English.

Possibly he was not sure of an appropriate job placement on return. Hewent to Leipzig to see an international exhibition and happened to visit there thestall of Seidel & Naumann, Dresden, a huge company manufacturing sewingmachines, typewriters and several other items. He worked out for himself agencyof the company for typewriters at Bombay. Travelling as deck passenger hearrived in Bombay in April 1929. Seeing his successful promotion of sale oftypewriters at Bombay, the parent company in Germany appointed him their agentfor whole of India.

His heart was still set for a teaching assignment. He unsuccessfully triedfor the post of a reader in chemistry at the Aligarh University. The family at Aligarhwas unhappy at his coming back alone leaving the bride behind. His mother andsister gave him the money to travel and he returned to Europe after a stay of onlya few months in India. From London via Berlin the couple went to Wilna inPoland to meet Luba’s parents, before leaving for India in October 1929.

While in Germany, Hamied made a fresh agreement with Homo Pharma,Berlin, the firm with which during an earlier visit he had obtained the agency for‘Okasa’ which was a fast selling drug in Europe as an outstanding restorativetonic.

The agency of Okasa and of typewriters were not doing well. Hamiedcould retain the Okasa agency with the monetary help from his mother. In themeantime the Seidel & Naumann enquired if he could be their agent in India fortheir well known Naumann sewing machines. He personally travelled to Dresden,Germany, and negotiated with the company for establishing an office at Bombayand a provision of salary for himself and office expenses. At his instance thecompany prepared typewriter with chemical keyboard.

It looked a little odd that a promising youngman with a doctorate from theBerlin University and experience in different industrial technologies was strugglingselling typewriters, sewing machines and Okasa. He did not lose heart. Hamied


records in his autobiography, “. . . ., he had read a book by some Americanauthor entitled ‘He who thinks he can, he can.’ “ He quoted a sentence from thisbook: ‘It is better to be a small wheel, no matter how tiny than to be a cog ina big wheel.’14 He did not want to be a cog but to be a wheel himself; his mentalattitude was attuned to that objective.

With his persistence the business in Okasa, typewriters and sewing machinesstarted doing well and began to flourish. He now felt that he had turned thecorner. He could live more comfortably and travel overseas with luxury.15 Heobtained distribution rights to sell Okasa in the East; the Okasa agency wascoverted into a Private Limited Company and there were set up agencies inSingapore, Bangkok and Rangoon.16

Luba and Abdul Hamied with their son Yusuf

The first child of Hamied and Luba was a daughter Sophie (born in1934). They had two sons Yusuf and Muku.

SCIENTIST INDUSTRIALIST DR HAMIED

All the six years of hard life, Hamied had remained conscious of his beinga Technical Industrial Chemist and longed to establish an industry. By 1935 hewas in a position to realise his dream of founding a chemical and pharmaceuticallaboratory. For the firm he envisioned, he coined the name, “The Chemical,Industrial and Pharmaceutical Laboratories” which he called CIPLA for short.

The firm was registered as a Public Limited Company on 17 August 1935with an authorised capital of Rs 6,00,000/-. There was difficulty in obtaining


signatures to the Memorandum and Articles of Association. The selling of sharesof the company was also a problem. The hurdles were somehow come over andthe company started. Generally everyone who floats a company allots to himselfquite a good number of promotion shares, which Hamied did not. He gave thecompany all his patent and proprietary formulae for several drugs and medicinesfor which he did not charge any royalty. For several years, he did not take anyremuneration to which he was entitled as per the agreement. The Directors didnot take any fees.

Dr Hamied left for a visit to Europe in April 1936 and there interviewedDr Rothenheim from Berlin, who had been contacted through a friend, found himsuitable for Cipla and appointed him as a pharmaceutical chemist.17

Hamied and Rothenheim contacted manufacturers of pharmaceuticalmachinery in Berlin and also in London and ordered some machinery for Cipla.At Bombay they opted for a small bungalow at 289 Bellasis Road, Byculla, andtook it on lease. Necessary alterations and remodelling work took several monthsand by this time the machinery ordered had arrived. There were teething troubles.The opening ceremony of Cipla was held on 22 September 1937 when the firstproducts of the company were ready to be put on the market. Among those who

The premises occupied by Cipla in 1936


were present at the function were Sir Ramaswami Mudaliar, Sir S. S. Bhatnagar,Sir Mohamed Yusuf and many leading industrialists and elites of Bombay.18

For a new pharmaceutical company it takes time to establish its name andprestige among medical profession for quality and standard of its products. In thefirst five years the company made losses. In 1938, even closing of Cipla wascontemplated. The huge losses which the company incurred made it impossible toappoint qualified people on high salaries. Hamied, therefore, took upon himselfthe entire work of running Cipla, controlling manufacture, developing and producingnew products, writing medical literature for every product and looking after thetraining of medical representatives.

It was through loans at high rates at Hamied’s own personal risk andguarantee that Cipla was kept running. By the end of 1939, the Second WorldWar started and supplies of drugs and medicines from abroad were suddenly cutoff. To meet the civil and defence requirements, orders started pouring in. ‘In1941, the company made sufficient profits to wipe off the losses and it now turnedthe corner and from a dying concern emerged as a progressive organization,which soon became well known all over India and abroad.’19

In 1944, the Bellasis Road property was purchased which till then wason lease; there followed subsequent remodelling and renovation and addition ofa second storey. The capital of the company was increased from Rs six lakhs tothirty lakhs. The company acquired land and buildings at Vikhroli. In 1951 therecame up a new building adjacent to the old one at Bellasis Road.

Before proceeding further a mention may be made of Hamied’s electionto the Fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry in early 1945.1,20

Hamied had contemplated to start a chemical factory as a separate concernor as an extension of the existing pharmaceutical company. His aim was realisedwhen in 1960, the chemical division was started for the manufacture of an importantsubstance, diosgenin the precursor to sex harmones, etc. The division was putunder the charge of his son Dr Yusuf Hamied who returned from Cambridge in1960 with a Ph.D. degree in organic chemistry. The Chemical Division of theCipla developed into one of the leading concerns manufacturing steroids andhormones.

By 1972 the Cipla had two manufacturing units, one for Pharmaceuticalsand the other for Fine Chemicals, Drug Intermediates and Steroids.22 This progress


was made in K. A. Hamied’s lifetime. In 1972 a Cipla Agricultural Division wasstarted at Bangalore for cultivation of medicinal plants. The total capital employedas on January 1972 in the company was Rs 1.10 crores. Cipla is today amongthe leading drug companies of the country.

Gandhiji’s visit to Cipla on 4 July 1939From left: Sushila Nayyar, Mahtma Gandhi,

K. A. Hamied, and Sardar Patel

Visit to Cipla in 1939 by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (in the middle) with Asaf Ali to his right

and K. A. Hamied


At times there originated research papers from the Cipla with K. A.Hamied as the senior author.23-26

Dr Hamied was awarded the H. K. Sen Memorial Lecture and Medal(1957) by the Institution of Chemists (India) and later he became president of theInstitution (1960-61).27

Dr K. A. Hamied, Technical Director and Managing Director of the Ciplasince 1935, was greatly satisfied at the growth of the firm and the image it hadbuilt in the industrial and scientific circles and the general public. It was all due tohis hard work.

Dignitaries from India and abroad – scientists, industrialists and statesmanvisited Cipla while in Bombay. On the top of the list of such luminaries who came,stands Mahatma Gandhi, who with Sardar Patel and Dr Sushila Nayyar visitedthe company on 4 July 1939.

Soon afterwards Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Asaf Ali came on a visitto the Cipla. Among other political figures visiting the Cipla were Rafi AhmedKidwai and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur. A reference has been made earlier about SirRamaswami Mudaliar and Sir S. S. Bhatnagar being present on opening ceremonyof the Cipla on 22 September 1937. On other occasions there were visits byNobel Laureates Sir C. V. Raman and Lord Alexander Todd (Cambridge).

Sir C. V. Raman and K. A. Hamied


Dr K. A. Hamied had become a leading industrialist. The Indian ChemicalManufacturers’ Association elected him its president in 1944.28 In early 1945, theAssociation decided to send abroad a delegation of Indian Chemical andPharmaceutical Industry. This was agreed to by the Government of India. Thesemi-official delegation with Dr Hamied as the leader left India in October 1945for U. K. and U.S.A.; arrangements for visits to factories and institutions in thecountries were made by the Government.29 In December 1950, Hamied presidedover the eleventh general session of the Indian Chemical Manufacturers’ Associationat Delhi; on his request Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru inaugurated the session.30

Indian Chemical Delegation to U.K. and U.S.A. 1945-1946.From left (seated): L. Gupta, K. A. Hamied (Leader) and S. P. Sen;

(standing):M. D. Hanif, K. K. Raman and R. B. Amin

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru beingreceived by Dr K. A. Hamied for the Eleventh

Session of the Indian Chemical Manufacturers’Association, Delhi, on 26 December 1950


Hamied reviewed the position of the Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industry of thecountry; he was critical of nationalisation and state control of industries.

Dr Hamied continued to express his views on all topical issues regardingthe pharmaceutical industry in India. He criticised the Drugs (Price Control) Order.31

He said that the scheme of price reduction was based on the findings of peoplewho had no actual experience of the intricacies of running a pharmaceuticalconcern.

He appeared before the Patents Enquiry Committee in February 1969.He gave evidence in support of the Patent Bill, requesting the Committee to makesome alterations in the Bill which would give more freedom to Indian scientistsand research workers and also to manufacturers to utilize and use the patents filein India.32 This inquiry was preparatory to the formalization of the statute thePatent Act 1970, which abolished product patents and detained only processpatents for 7 years.

A note needs to be taken of Dr Hamied’s association with several officialbodies. He was a member of the Panel on Fine Chemicals, Drugs andPharmaceuticals which the Government of India appointed in 1945 immediatelyafter World War II with Sir Ram Nath Chopra as the Chairman. The Panel(1947) recommended that the country must produce all essential drugs and makethem available for use of the masses at economical prices.33 When the final DraftReport was placed before the Panel in May 1946, Dr Hamied was abroad. Hehad a difference of views on the minuted particulars; on return he got his note ofdissent recorded in the final report.34 The Panel Report was taken note of by thePharmaceutical Enquiry Committee (1954). Hamied was among those who wereinterviewed by the Committee.

For several years, Dr Hamied remained on the Development Council forDrugs and Pharmaceuticals established as per section 6 of the Industries(Development and Regulation) Act, 1951.35-38 His name appeared as a memberof the Council in a notification of April 1974 after he had already expired.39 Thereis a mention of his having been a member of the Council for Drugs, Dyes andIntermediates.40

Dr Hamied was nominated as a member of the Drugs Technical AdvisoryBoard as per provision of the Drugs Act, 1940.41 He was on the IndianPharmacopoeia Committee as an ex-officio member in the capacity of his being


the Chairman of the Pharmaceuticals and Drugs Research Committee of theCouncil of Scientific and Industrial Research (1959-61).42

The contributions of Dr K. A. Hamied in the formation of the Council ofScientific and Industrial Research and its working are covered in the next section.

DR HAMIED AND COUNCIL OF SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH

A reference has been made above about a Technical Research Institutewhich Hamied conceived in 1927 but could not find any support for establishingit.43,44 He felt that it was of the highest importance for the industrial developmentof a country that technical research institutes be established. Drawing on theexperiences of the laboratories in the western countries he stated that ‘It was herethat all discoveries of the world are made, discoveries which lead to the wealthand prosperity of a nation and give just pride and real enthusiasm to the discoverers.’Hamied himself was an industrial chemist and he elaborated on the TechnicalResearch Institute which he himself wanted to start with industrial chemistry as theprincipal feature.44

Before proceeding further, a mention may be made regarding the creationof a Board of Scientific and Industrial Research with Professor S. S. Bhatnagaras the Director in 1940.46,47 The Board constituted Drugs and PharmaceuticalsCommittee in July 1940, with Dr Jivraj N. Mehta as the Chairman; Dr K. A.Hamied was one of the members.47,48

On 14 November 1941, Sir A. Ramaswami Mudaliar moved a resolutionin the Legislative Assembly to recommend the constitution of an Industrial ResearchFund for the purpose of fostering Industrial Development in the country.46 Theresolution of the Legislative Assembly was accepted by the Government of Indiaand it was decided to set up a Council of Scientific and Industrial Research asan autonomous body. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research wasformed in 1942.

In connection with the formation of the CSIR what Dr Hamied recorded49

is of interest: “During the war years, I believe in November 1942, while Iwas in Delhi I happened to call on Sir Ramaswami Mudaliar, who was thenMember for industries in Viceroy’s Executive Council. He received me verynicely and I had a long talk with him about the plan I had prepared forTechnical Industrial Research Institute. He was very much impressed bymy scheme and told me that he would give it immediate consideration.’


‘....... soon after received a telegram from Sir Robert Target, DirectorGeneral of Supplies, directly under Sir Ramaswami Mudaliar, asking me tocome immediately to Delhi. I went to Delhi next day, and saw Sir Robertwhom I knew very well. He told me that the Honourable Member, SirRamaswami had accepted my plan of a Scientific Research Institute aboutwhich I had discussion with him a few days ago. Sir Robert said thiswould be on the pattern as in the U.K., under the name ‘Council ofScientific and Industrial Research.’ This was how the ‘Council of Scientificand Industrial Research’ came into existence which today has become avery important body controlling national laboratories. In fact the schemeof starting Industrial Technical Institute was prepared by me in 1927 onmy return from Germany. My suggestions to Sir Ramaswami Mudaliar werebased on this scheme. In 1928, no one gave any attention to it and it wasnearly after fourteen years that my ideas were taken up by the Governmentand the ‘Council of Scientific and Industrial Research’ with its chain oflaboratories came into existence. The credit for the idea to establish sucha Scientific Research Council must in all fairness go to me.” He furtherstated, “Sir Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar was appointed the first DirectorGeneral of the C.S.I.R. I was offered the post of Deputy Director General,which I refused owing to my full time occupation with Cipla which hadjust started developing and expanding.”

As a part of India’s post-war reconstruction plan, on expert advice fromProfessor A. V. Hill, who on invitation from the Government of India visited Indiain 1943, there was appointed Industrial Research Planning Committee in early1944. The Committee consisted of well known scientists and industrialists.50,51 Itincluded Sir R. K. Shammukham Chetty as the Chairman and among the memberswere Sir J. C. Ghosh, Lt. Col. S. S. Sokhey, Kasturbhai Lalbhai, Sir J. J.Ghandy, K. A. Hamied and Sir S. S. Bhatnagar. It was on the recommendationof the Committee establishment of more research laboratories under C.S.I.R. wastaken in hand.

The 1948 review records that activities of the Council of Scientific andIndustrial Research were guided by the two standing advisory bodies viz. theBoard of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Industrial Liaison Committee.52

Dr Hamied was a member of Governing Body of the Council and also of theBoard.53

Dr Hamied remained closely associated with the C.S.I.R. He was on theGoverning Body of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research for about twodecades; he in particular contributed to advancing the course of industrial research


in the country.54 He chaired the Pharmaceuticals and Drugs Research Committeeof the C.S.I.R. He was on the Executive Councils of the Central Drug ResearchInstitute55 and the National Chemical Laboratory,56 and Chairman of the ExecutiveCouncil of the Industrial Toxicology Research Centre.57

INTEREST IN PEDAGOGY

Hamied had an academic bent of mind. He was fond of purchasing bookson industrial chemistry and collected a good library of his own while in Germany.He wished to make teaching as his career. He himself recorded that ‘Peopleknow me as an industrialist, but very few except my close friends know that byeducation, training and experience I belong to the profession of pedagogy.’58

In 1932, Hamied was elected a member of the Court of the AligarhUniversity and also a member of the Syndicate of the University, where only threeyears earlier he had not been able to secure the post of a reader, which he somuch desired. In later years he became a member of the Senate of the BombayUniversity. Education remained his abiding passion all through. He was an HonoraryProfessor at the Aligarh Muslim University.

Dr Hamied was invited to give evidence before the University EnquiryCommission which Government of India appointed with Dr S. Radhakrishnan asthe Chairman.59,60 He submitted a written memorandum on the University Educationin India. He opined that unless a large number of students after passing the highschool examination are diverted to vocational schools and technical training centres,university education would remain of a low standard. Another factor which hethought was responsible for the low standard of education in universities was thatthose who impart knowledge, with a few exceptions, did not themselves possessthat degree of knowledge which should enable them to function as a fountain oflearning. He elaborated on appointment of staff and basis of promotion. He wasfor abolishing time-scale salary system. He was critical of customary use of word‘Professor’ in a very loose and undignified manner. It was his view that the word‘Professor’ should be made a title to be conferred by the university or theMinistry of Education on the recommendation of a competent board appointedfor the purpose and persons so appointed should possess the highest academicqualification who by their research have acquired an All-India and Internationalrecognition. A vice-chancellor of a university should be of recognized academicfame. He argued for English as the medium of instructions at the universities.


Later, there is taken note of Dr Hamied’s involvment in the conduct ofeducational activities by the Indian Pharmaceutical Association.

ASSOCIATION WITH PHARMACEUTICAL ORGANISATIONS

Dr K. A. Hamied was a participant in the activities of the IndianPharmaceutical Congress Association, Calcutta, and the Indian PharmaceuticalAssociation, Bombay State Branch (later Maharashtra State Branch).

Dr Hamied presided over the Second Indian Pharmaceutical Congressheld at Patna in December 1949 under the auspices of the Indian PharmaceuticalCongress Association.61 In his elaborate address he dilated upon the problemsfacing pharmacy in India.62 He delved on manufacture and quality of drugs,statutory controls, practice of pharmacy and public health, and several of therelated aspects.

He was elected life member of the Indian Pharmaceutical Association.63

He actively involved himself in the activities of the IPA Bombay State Branch. Hechaired the reception committees for the first Bombay State PharmaceuticalConference,64 and the Tenth Indian Pharmaceutical Congress, Bombay, 1957.65

In the welcome addresses he expressed himself on the topical pharmaceuticalissues.

The State Branch formed the Pharmaceutical Education Committee withDr K. A. Hamied as the Chairman to work out a scheme for the training inpharmacy for persons already in the profession.66 The start of the training coursewas an important step in the developments which followed in later years leadingto the creation of the Bombay College of Pharmacy.

Hamied maintained his interest in the pharmacy profession and in the1967 National Pharmacy Week Celebrations he spoke on the theme, ‘Goodpharmacist for better medication.’67

EPILOGUE

Dr K. A. Hamied believed that ‘...the most essential for success in life isnot wealth nor extraordinary knowledge. It is the will, the stamina, the disciplineand qualities of perseverance even in the face of the most adverse circumstancesand unshakable faith in Providence for help and guidance that are most necessaryfor achieving one’s aims and objectives.’68


Recalling his own past, Hamied stated, ‘I have lived as a poor man withalmost no means to sustain myself. I have slept on bare ground with a brick asmy pillow. I have walked miles and miles for work entrusted to me when I wasa volunteer in the Indian National Congress. I have travelled to and from Europeas a deck passenger, rubbing shoulders with labourers and coolies on the deck.’58

About his association with the greats of his times, he wrote, ‘In mypolitical career I have enjoyed the company of great leaders of the Indian NationalCongress, Motilal Nehru, C. R. Das, Maulana Mohamed Ali, Hakim Ajmal Khan,Dr Ansari, Abul Kalam Azad, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, A. M. Khwaja, SherwaniBrothers, Hasrat Mohani, Dr Rajendra Prasad, Dr Zakir Husain, Sarojini Naidu,Sardar Patel, Pandit Nehru and his illustrious daughter Indira Gandhi, and his wellknown sister, Vijyalakshmi Pandit.’58 ‘I had the privilege of the association ofMahatma Gandhi when I lived at Sabarmati Ashram for some days and learnedthe lesson of truth and ahim. sa– at Mahatma’s feet.’58

Looking to Dr Hamied’s political background he could have made asuccess in politics. He did get into it, but did not go very far. In 1937, hecontested the election for Bombay Legislative Council and won, defeating MuslimLeague candidates.69 B. G. Kher, who formed the government, requested Hamiedto be the Muslim Minister in his cabinet.70 Hamied declined the offer, as becominga minister on communal basis was repugnant to him. He continued on the Councilup to 1962, nearly for quarter of a century; he did not like to get elected or evennominated again.71 He held the appointment as Sheriff of Bombay for a year(1952-53).72

J. N. Sahni, a prominent journalist interviewed Hamied in 1946, andhighly complimented him for his background, ideas and vision, and did a piece onhim.73 Again, an extract from what Sahni wrote about him in 1968 is also ofinterest, ‘As a businessman, as a go-ahead scientist, as a man about town,Hamied has made his name, both in Bombay and the country. But it seems to methat these are too narrow spheres of success of a talent which could have beenmore usefully harnessed to serve wider and more ambitious avenues of nationalservice. But Hamied is perhaps not alone in being by-passed, and finding thatwhat he may have been more than willing to give to the nation, must perforce becontained within personal spheres. Hamied did have a spell as legislator andcorporator and served his constituencies with distinction. But he soon found thatpolitics was not his cup of tea.’74 He was discontented not so much because he


was not given the position which he deserved in national life but because otherswere given positions of power and prestige without deserving them in the leastand which they were using to the detriment of the country.75

Dr Hamied was a patriot and a true nationalist. He held strong nationalviews, very keen on the integrity of the country and never hesitating to expresshis point of view as forcibly as possible and having the guts to carry out his ideasas best and possible and also his plans for national developments in variousspheres in his line of activities.76 He endeared himself to all and particularly to hisfriends, by his openness of heart, his sincerity and an outlook on life not distortedby any of the isms that are too powerful in politics, public life and personalrelations.77 He stood like a rock against all narrow and parochial tendencies.78 Hiswas a restless soul driven by an urge to go on and on, touched to the quick byinjustice or indignity to himself or to any other fellow being, intolerant of foolishness,laziness, sloppiness, superstition, cant and humbug; he had an affectionatedisposition and a compassionate nature.75 Hamied never traded his Islam, forgaining political objectives, and among the Muslim elite, was a grand example ofbeing a good Indian.74

Another feature of Dr Hamied’s personality was the warmth of hishospitality. He had the reputation of being an affable host.79 He not only entertainedlavishly but what is more,he enjoyed playing the host.

Hamied’s elegant residence at 25 Cuffe Parade, Colaba, Bombay, wasthe venue for hosting high dignitaries. A reception was held for Subash ChandraBose, president of Indian National Congress, in 1938.80 Distinguished scientistslike Sir C. V. Raman, Sir Alexander Fleming and Lord Todd were entertained.There were many other of celebrities who were feted.

Although Bombay had become Hamied’s permanent home since January1931, he maintained a home in Aligarh, which he refurbished into a modernbuilding called ‘Masud Mahal.’ High profile visitors to the University stayed there.Among them were Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Sir Mirza Ismail, Sir Fazal Ali, SirAlexander Todd and several others. His Holiness Sayedna Dr Taher Saifuddin,Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University, who often went to Aligarh stayed atMasud Mahal.81

Hamied earned wealth, but only to be used for good causes, in elegantliving and in rich hospitality.79 His kindness showed in his putting money in the


hands of each of the beggars collecting outside his house every morning; he usedto say ‘No one leaves my door with an empty palm.’82

Dr Hamied was a learned man, he was a thinker. It was said about him,“His vast knowledge of various branches of learning, science, religion, politics,human relations, philosophy, and many other spheres of life is indeed staggering.This is known only to those who know him intimately and come frequently incontact with him. Dr Hamied possesses richness of ideas. Nature has given himthe most coveted power of thinking. He believes in the motto, ‘those who cannotthink must sink.’ “83 He expressed himself knowledgeably in subjects as varied asdemocracy,84 language problem,85,86 and religion.87 Study of religion was his specialhobby.

1968 was the year of Dr Hamied’s seventieth birthday. The Cipla staffand workers held a celebration on 31 October. A public reception for the occasionwas arranged by his friends and admirers on 6 December to suit the convenienceof Dr Zakir Husain, President of India, who had agreed to preside over thefunction. A souvenir of the reception was published,2 followed later by proceedingsof the reception.3 The latter included the texts of the speeches by Dr Husain andseveral other dignitaries. These two publications and the autobiography4 constitute

Dr Zakir Husain, President of India,felicitating K. A. Hamied on his 70th birthday


a rich source of material on the life and contributions of Dr Hamied, and theinformation drawn from these has been used for the present writing.

Dr Zakir Husain in his speech, stated that, ‘Dr Hamied’s career as youknow, has been an outstanding example of imagination, initiative, planned risk andsuccess. There is a kind of drive in him which carries him and others along.’88

Lord Todd from Cambridge in a message wrote, ‘Dr Hamied’s greatcontributions to the development of the pharmaceutical industry in India is matchedonly by his lifelong services to his country at large. He is a true son of India andis worthy of all the honour and respect we pay him.’89

Dr Atma Ram viewed, ‘Some persons symbolize integration of science,technology and enterprise, and have established flourishing industries. One suchperson is Dr K. A. Hamied ....... His passion for scientific research for industryand industry for scientific research is almost that of a crusader.’54

Dr Hamied had completed writing his autobiography and had correctedthe proofs. The running of the Cipla was ably done by his son Dr Yusuf K.Hamied. He and his wife Luba planned a well deserved holiday in Europe. Hehad a firmly deep rooted aversion to air travel.90 This time he waived his resolveand started the journey by air on 5 June 1972. On the first lap of the journey theystopped at Tehran to be with their daughter Sophie and her family.91,92 There hefell ill and passed away on 23 June 1972. His remains were flown home andburied at Hamiedabad, Vikhroli, on the 29 June, according to his wishes.93

Dr Khwaja Abdul Hamied, left a mark as a patriot, scientist, educationalist,industrialist and as a man of varied activities and ideas. He was an illustrious sonof India.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks are due to the Chemical, Industrial & Pharmaceutical Laboratories(CIPLA) for supply of several of the publications by and on Dr Khwaja AbdulHamied and to the Royal Society of Chemistry for making available the RoyalInstitute of Chemistry file on him. The archival collection made during the tenureof different INSA supported projects continues to be of help for my carrying outresearch on the history of pharmaceutical and related developments, for which Iremain grateful. Dr Yusuf K. Hamied of Cipla has gone through the manuscriptand suggested certain modifications for which I am thankful.


REFERENCES AND NOTES

1. File on Dr K. A. Hamied pertaining to his election to Associateship/ Fellowship of theRoyal Institute of Chemistry, earlier known as the Institute of Chemistry, London.

2. Souvenir of the Reception to Dr K. A. Hamied on his 70th Birthday, 1968, pp 110.Presentation by Dr Zakir Husain, President of India.

3. Souvenir of the Reception to Dr K. A. Hamied on his 70th Birthday, 1968, pp 37.

4. K. A. Hamied, An Autobiography, A Life to Remember, Lalvani Publishing House,Bombay, 1972, pp xxiii + 390.

5. “Thirty Years of CIPLA 1935-1965,” Cipla News, 2 (15 May 1966), pp 22.

6. Cipla News, 8 (April 1973), pp 62. The issue dedicated to Dr K. A. Hamied.

7. Reproductions of writings of Dr K. A. Hamied on varied topics.

8. In later years the Jamia Millia shifted to Delhi.

9. Ref. 4, p 29.

10. Ref. 1, in a letter of 5 October 1927 to the Institute of Chemistry. The shop was closeddown in January 1926.

11. Moinuddin Harris, ref. 2, p 36. Harris was a student at the Jamia Millia at Aligarh duringearly 1920s and later Hamied’s friend of good standing at Bombay.

12. Ref. 4, p 23.

13. Ref. 4, p 26.

14. Ref. 4, p 90.

15. The family took an independent flat at ‘Hyder Building,’ Fazal Road, in 1932, and in1933 shifted to ‘Jasim House’ on Cuffe Parade facing the sea. They lived in this palatialhouse, for first five yeas on the ground floor and thereafter on first floor of thisluxurious building.

16. In later years as Hamied was occupied with doing manufacturing, the Okasa businesswas completely neglected. In late 1960s, Hamied put his younger son Muku in fullcharge of Okasa Company Pvt. Limited. The Okasa trade mark was purchased from theBerlin company. There was rivival of business on the item.

17. During this visit Luba, who was expecting, and their daughter Sophie, accompaniedDr Hamied. It was during this trip that their son Yusuf was born on 25 July 1936 atWilna, Poland. The sojourn was at Hamied’s own expense and not charged to thecompany. On return journey Rothenheim and his wife were in the same ship sailingfor home from Genoa.

18. Ref. 4, pp 133-134.


19. Ref. 2, p 107.

20. Professor A. V. Hill (London), Sir S. S. Bhatnagar and Sir J. C. Ghosh (Bangalore) werethe referees who supported his candidature.

21. Indian Pharmaceutical Industry 1973, Development Council (Drugs andPharmaceuticals), Directorate General of Technical Development, Government of India.

22. Ref. 21, pp 168-169.

23. K. A. Hamied and V. M. Bakshi, “Rauwolfia serpentina Alkaloids – New Method ofAssay,” Indian Journal of Pharmacy, 18 (1956), 190-192. A fluorimetric method ofassay.

24. K. A. Hamied, B. K. Bhattacharya and T. De’Lima, “A Comparative PharmacologicalStudy of the Antihypertensive Activity and Hypnotic and Sedative Action of a CertainFraction of Rauwolfia serpentina and Reserpine,” Indian Journal of Pharmacy, 18(1956), 258-265.

25. K. A. Hamied, V. M. Bakshi and L. P. Aghara, “Pharmacological Investigation ofNardostachys jatamansi,” Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research, 21C (1962),100-103. Extratives showed the presence of sedative and hypotensive principles.

26. K. A. Hamied and V. M. Bakshi, “Modifications in the Synthesis of Pro-vitamin D3,”Indian Journal of Pharmacy, 25 (1963), 52-53.

27. Golden Jubilee Brochure 1928-1978, Institution of Chemists (India), pp 2, 23.

28. Ref. 4, p 156.

29. Ref. 4, pp 162-163. The delegation consisted of Dr K. A. Hamied (leader), S. P. Sen ofBengal Chemicals, R. B. Amin of Alembic, L. Gupta of Shambu Nath & Sons, M. Hanifand R. Rahman.

30. Ref. 4, pp 231-233.

31. Pharma Times, 2 (1970), 81-82, 104.

32. Ref. 4, p 355.

33. Report of the Panel on Fine Chemicals, Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, Department ofIndustries and Supplies, Government of India, Government of India Press, Simla, 1947,pp 94.

34. Ref. 33, pp 42-50.

35. Indian Journal of Pharmacy, 19 (1957) 106.

36. Indian Journal of Pharmacy, 28 (1966) 206-207.


38. Ref. 21, p 3.


39. Pharma Times, 6(6) (1974) 31-32.


41. Indian Journal of Pharmacy, 10 (1948) 51, 52.

42. Pharmacopoeia of India (The Indian Pharmacopoeia), Second Edition, Ministry ofHealth, Government of India, The Manager of Publications, Delhi, 1966, p ix.

43. Ref. 4, pp 58-61.

44. A. H. Khwaja, Scheme of the Technical Research Institute, pp 15. Published in 1928;a print received from the Cipla.

45. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, A Review by Director, Scientific andIndustrial Research, January 1948.

46. “Introduction”, ref. 45, pp 1-4.

47. Indian and Eastern Chemist, 21 (1940) 193.

48. Ref. 45, p 70.

49. Ref. 4, pp 154-155. It may be noted that Dr Hamied was not definite about the dateof his meeting Sir Mudaliar, which he mentioned as ‘I believe in November 1942.’

50. Ref. 45, pp 204-208.

51. Ref. 4, pp 160-161.

52. Ref. 45, pp 5, 6.

53. Ref. 45, Appendixes I (A) and I (B)

54. Atma Ram, “Dr K. A. Hamied and Industrial Research,” ref. 2, pp 34-35.

55. M. L. Dhar, “Drug Research and Development in India,” ref. 2, pp 61-66.

56. Ref. 4, p 283.

57. Cipla News, 8(1) (1973) 8.

58. “Author’s Preface,” ref. 4, v-viii.

59. Ref. 4, pp 224-226.

60. K. A. Hamied, University Education in India – Some Suggestions, Memorandumpresented to University Inquiry Commission, at Bombay, 12 March 1949, pp 12. A copymade available by the Cipla.

61. Indian Pharmacist, 5 (1949-50) 85-86.

62. K. A. Hamied, “Problems Facing Pharmacy in India,” Indian Pharmacist, 5 (1949-50)94-100.

63. Proceedings of the IPA Council Meeeting, 17 October 1950, item 4; Indian Journalof Pharmacy, 12 (1950) 346.






68. Cipla News, 2(2) (1966), 3. This was Dr Hamied’s message to the Cipla community.

69. Ref. 4, pp 127-128.

70. Ref. 4, pp 131-132.

71. Ref. 4, p 307.

72. Ref. 4, pp 240, 246.

73. Ref. 4, pp 213-217. The writing by Sahni reproduced.

74. J. N. Sahni, “That Institution – ‘Hamied,’ “ ref. 2, pp 41-42.

75. S. Abid Husain, ref. 2, p 32. Dr Husain, Professor Emeritus, Jamia Millia, was a lifelongfriend of Dr Hamied.

76. Jivraj N. Mehta, ref. 2, p 10.

77. C. K. Daphtary, ref. 2, p 12. Daphtary was Attorney General, India.

78. S. K. Patil, ref. 2, p 15.

79. J. N. Sahni, Cipla News, 8(1) (1973) 5.

80. Ref. 4, photo facing p 113.

81. Ref. 4, p 298.

82. Khushwant Singh, Illustrated Weekly of India, 29 October 1972; Cipla News, 8(1)(1973) 4.

83. M. R. Sherwani, reference 2, p 19. Sherwani was a Member of the Parliament (RajyaSabha).

84. K. A. Hamied, Problems of India – Book I, Pitfalls in Democracy, December 1948, pp24.

85. K. A. Hamied, Problems of India – Book II, What is Hindi ?, Alisons & Company,Bombay, 1956, pp 65.

86. K. A. Hamied, “The Origin and Development of Hindi Language,” Times of India, 15and 22 August 1965, pp 12.

87. K. A. Hamied, Purpose of Religion, Paper read at the Inter-Religeous Seminar, Delhi,18 October, 1971, pp 18.

88. Ref. 3, p 31.


89. Ref. 2, p 7.

90. Ref. 4, pp 318-319. Hamied in his autobiography wrote, ‘The reader must be surprisedto find that I always travelled by ship and train and never by plane. All my life, I havenever flown. People think that this was due to my fear for air-flight, but it was not so.I consider aeroplanes as the main cause of all the greatest tragedies of the world........,I therefore dislike aeroplanes and never use them.’

91. Reference 4, p 297. Sophie was married to Anis Ahmed who was an electrical engineerand worked with the Tata-Hydro-electric.

92. Sophie and family were at Tehran those days, as her husband had an assignment therefrom his parent company in India.

93. Editorial, “Dr K. A. Hamied,” Cipla News, 8(1) (1973) 2.

Documents

KHWAJA ABDUL HAMIED (1898-1972) – PIONEER … · Khwaja Abdul Hamied ... Hamied passed his matriculation from Islamia High School, ... voluntary assistant in the Institute of Physical